No Such Thing
by Tyson FoxFlame
Summary: [AU][Takarisuke] Hikari is a girl who had never experienced any feeling of being in love before. But when she moves to Odaiba and meets two boys who are total opposites, will those feelings start to exist? Or will it all become one large mess of oddity.
1. Prologue: End Of The Adventure

And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Tyson!

Yes some of you may have never heard of me, but who cares? Lol.

Anyway, you're not here to see me, you're here to read the fic! Before we begin, let's explain a few things.

I haven't decided on the couple yet. It can end up being a Takari. Or it could be Daikari. Hell, if I wanted to, I could always totally switch gears and write up an unexpected couple. Sooooooooo, no telling me in reviews, 'MAKE IT TAKARI!" or "MAKE IT DAIKARI OR I WON'T READ IT!'. You do realize I will pay no attention to those reviews and that I'll still follow my own wants and wishes. After all, I'm writing it.

It all depends on the mood I'm in once I reach that point.

Second of all, my new review policy. It's not necessary that you follow it but I would prefer if you did.

I want honesty. As much as I appreciate all reviews, I prefer to get ones that tell me the good and weak points of the story. You can flame me as harshly as you please, I encourage it. After all, I want to be a writer. And not one of the fanfic writers on this site that claims they want to be an author, yet can't handle CC.

I think that's basically it...in case you didn't read the warning in the summary, this is AU and um, yea. I don't own the Digimon characters or anything relatively related to it. Yea...onward and forward!

* * *

Moving has always been an issue for my family. We were constantly moving from one city to the next, living in one apartment after the other. It grew tiresome after the first five or six times in 18 months, but we grew used to it. The strange part about all of the relocating? None of it was necessary really. My father had this job that allowed him to live anywhere within the country and still keep his job. My mother, well, she was more of a stay-at-home type so it didn't really matter where she lived.

In reality, the only ones being affected by the constant moving were my older brother and I. It was rather a pain to move everywhere and continuously leave all of our friends and school behind.

Now, you may be wondering, if there's no reason to keep moving, why do you?

The simplest way to put it: my parents are free-spirits. They generally don't like staying in the same place for too long. They enjoy traveling and living everywhere they possibly can. And they drag us kids along for the ride. We never liked it as much as they did.

So naturally we were rather in a state of shock once we found out that they may have actually found a town they wanted to stay in. My father told us that he was truly considering the idea of making the new city our permanent home. Of course my brother and I were ecstatic at the mere idea and instantly rushed through the packing process.

In fact, we were supposed to be leaving today.

But before I continue on with my story, maybe I should introduce myself. My name is-

"HIKARI YAGAMI!"

That. I winced at my mother's volume and poked my head out of the door.

"Yes, Mom?"

"Come on sweetie, we need to get moving if we want to make it to the train station on time." She reminded me as she shoved my father out the door with a few more boxes of things.

"All right, I'm coming." I replied and ducked back into my empty bedroom, picking up my yellow backpack from the floor. I looked around the room once more and sighed.

"Well, it's been a good four months, room." I mumbled and turned around.

"Ready to go, kid?" I jumped in surprise and focused my eyes on my older brother who was leaning against the door frame.

His name is Taichi, but everybody calls him Tai. He's 15 and he's in his 10th year of schooling. Not that you really care, but just thought I would share. He does tend to bug me at times but he's still a pretty great guy.

"I'm ready. Are you?" I asked him as we walked out of the room.

"More then ready. If it means staying in one spot long enough to finish school and maybe even get on a soccer team, I'm happy. The muffle-shuffle gets a little old at times." He grinned slightly and grabbed a box off of the floor, heading out the front door and into the lift. I picked up the last box on the floor and followed him closely. He leaned forward and pressed the down button with his elbow.

"You still call it that?" I laughed at his old term.

"Of course, it fits." He responded, shifting the box in his arms.

The muffle-shuffle is Tai's term for our moving. For some reason, Dad always has us move either just before the sun comes up, or just after it goes down so it's dark. Everything is quiet during those times of the day, hence the muffle part...and I think anybody can figure out the shuffle part.

We stepped out of the lift and headed over to the giant moving truck that waited for us, dumping our loads into the back of it. Mom and Dad were already waiting for us in the taxi that would take us to the train station. The moving men closed up the back end of the truck and locked it, hopping into the front area.

"We will meet you in front of your new apartment Mr. and Mrs. Yagami." One of the men hollered back at my parents.

"Thank you, sir." My father replied and ushered Tai and I into the cab. The moving truck pulled away first and the taxi followed. It still didn't make sense why we couldn't just take the taxi all the way to the new town instead of going to the train station, buying tickets, getting on the train, arriving in the new town, paying for another taxi and going to the apartment.

"Dad, why don't we just take the cab all the way to the new town?" Tai voiced my thoughts.

"Already a step ahead of you, Tai." Dad replied and leaned back in the seat.

Ok, so maybe my father is smarter then we give him credit for. I put my bag down on the floor and unzipped it, digging through it furiously. Nobody else was really paying that much attention to what I was doing. Tai was already plugged into his Discman, Dad was punching some numbers into a calculator and writing them down (I assumed for work), and my mother was reading a gardening magazine.

Typical family.

I wriggled my hand all the way to the bottom of the bag before my fingers lightly brushed against the item I was searching for. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I lifted my silver camera out of the bag and draped it around my neck. I wanted to be prepared to take pictures of the new city.

"Mom, what's the town called?" I asked as I stared out the window.

"Odaiba. It's really a lovely town that I think you and Tai are both going to like." My mother said back without bothering to look up from her magazine. I nodded and watched the scenery change. It was still early morning, so there wasn't much to look at besides trees. A quick glance at my watch told me that it was 7am now. We had been driving for about 20 minutes...and if I understood correctly it took an hour to get to the new city. I could already hear Tai's snores as his head met the window and making a loud 'CLUNK' sound.

"This is going to be a looooong drive." I muttered and leaned my own head against the window.

* * *

It was about 35 minutes later that we started seeing some signs of life. We pulled onto the busy streets of Odaiba and headed for our new apartment building. People were rushing down the sidewalks, cars and buses filled the streets, and lights came on in front of buildings and shops.

In other words, it wasn't much different then our last town.

We arrived in front of a large apartment building 10 minutes later and spotted the moving truck already waiting for us. I jumped out of the taxi and walked towards the truck. My mother shook Tai's shoulders and followed after me. Tai just shook his head and continued to sleep. My father paid the driver for our trip and noticed Tai was still in the back seat sleeping.

"TAICHI GET UP!" That was the only thing that woke Tai up. He shot up in his seat and scrambled out of the car, running towards me.

"Don't even say it, Kari." He warned me as he grabbed a light-weight box from the backend of the truck.

"Say what, Tai?" I replied innocently and grabbed another box. He stared at me briefly and sighed, turning towards the building.

"Never mind just hurry up." He grunted and jogged after my father. I followed behind them and we all walked to the lift and rode to the 6th floor. The chime informed us that we were on the right floor and we stepped out into the hall, following my father to the right of the lift and down the hall. Four doors down stood our new home. My father fished through his pocket before he produced a small key, sticking it into the doorknob. He twisted the key and pulled it back out, slowly swinging open the door to our apartment. My mother had walked up behind us, along with the three moving men who were each carrying a large piece of furniture. Tai reached over and pressed the light switch, flooding the area with fluorescent light. Tai and I both gasped audibly. This apartment was unlike any of the other ones we've lived in before. We trekked through the front hall, coming out in what appeared to be the living room. In front of us was a large sliding glass door that led to a balcony outside. Behind us was the kitchen. On each side wall of the apartment were three doors.

"So, what do you think?" My father interrupted our visual tour.

"Um...it's great, Dad." Tai mumbled uncertainly.

"Just great? It's wonderful, Dad!" I exclaimed and threw my arms around him. My father just gave me a skeptical look.

"...Sorry?" I gave him a sheepish grin and let go of him. He nodded in approval and headed back outside to help the movers. My mother stepped up between Tai and I.

"The bright side of this house is that you both get your own bedroom!" she announced cheerful.

"Finally!" Tai grinned widely.

"Same to you too, then." I playfully stuck my tongue out at him. My mother shook her head and grabbed our hands, leading us over to the side of the apartment that was closest to the door.

"Now." She started off, letting go of our hands. "The room over there is Tai's." she pointed at the door on the far side closest to the front door.

"That's the bathroom." The door between the two bedrooms.

"And the last door is my room?" I asked.

"Of course." My mother smiled.

"Great!" I raced over to the door and yanked it open, stepping inside the spacious room.

The room itself was pretty decent. Large, closet on one whole wall, lovely picture window, absolutely gorgeous. I bounded over to the window and stared out, spotting a humongous red tower off in the distance and a park right down and across the street from the apartment building.

"It's beautiful." I heard myself whisper as I let my bag drop to the floor.

"How rotten, you have a better view." Tai spoke right into my ear, causing me to jump for the second time that day.

"Would you stop doing that!?" I yelped in my startled state.

"It's just fun though." He winked and grabbed my wrist, dragging me out of my room and completely out of the apartment itself.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, allowing him to lead me into the lift.

"We still need to move everything into the apartment, remember? Dad said to leave the heavy furniture like the beds and chairs for the movers to carry and for us to grab our stuff." Tai explained as he leaned against the wall of the lift.

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"No clue." He shrugged and walked out of the lift as we reached the ground level. We headed outside back to where the moving truck was and grabbed a few boxes. Rode the lift back up, walked into our apartment, dropped the boxes, ride down to ground level, grab more boxes, repeat. It got tiresome after a while but we finally got it done. My mother had already unpacked all of the boxes with the kitchen supplies and trinkets for my father's office and placed them in the correct rooms by the time Tai and I came up with the last boxes of our belongings. The couch, recliner, dining table, chairs, and our beds had also already been moved into our rooms.

Let's spare all of the boring details about my unpacking and fast-forward shall we?

* * *

I stepped back and examined my room once more. My mother and father had taken apart the bunk beds that Tai and I used to sleep on, giving each of us one of the beds. I had my bed pushed up to the wall opposite of the door and closet. My desk was on the wall to the right of the bed and opposite of the window and everything else didn't matter where it went so it was scattered. My dresser was on the right side of the window on the wall opposite of the desk and I had my rocking chair on the other side of the window. Along with the desk was another table that held my stereo and a few random CDs.

"Looks good." I shrugged and walked out of my room into the living room. My mother was in the kitchen preparing either lunch or dinner, I wasn't quite sure. After all, it was 2pm by now, it could be either or.

"Hey Mom?" I called for her attention. She stopped cutting carrots and looked over the counter and towards me.

"Yes, Kari?" she responded.

"Can I go wander around, get to know town?" I asked, already slipping on my shoes.

"I don't know, Kari...we just got here." She started to say just as Tai walked out of his room.

"And I'm sure it's a perfectly safe town that Kari can go explore by herself." He cut in as he strolled over and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter. My mother sighed and shook her head, going back to her chopping and slicing.

"I suppose you'll be all right..." She trailed off.

"Thanks, Mom, thanks, Tai!" I hollered over my shoulder and ran out the front door, into the lift, and outside onto the sidewalk.

"Well, now that that's over..." I sighed and started walking towards the park I saw from my room. The walk was momentarily short and I was soon strolling through the park. Lots of tall trees towered over me as little kids ran around and older couples walked along holding hands. I walked down the designated path and took in each of the sights before me. There was a lake attached to the pond where ducks swam and fishes jumped in the sunlight. So I stopped and stood there for a bit, transfixed by the lake. Not for very long of course.

"Heads up!" Was my only warning. I turned my head and caught the basketball that had been hurling at me mere seconds ago. A boy jogged over and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Nice catch." He nodded to me. I grinned back and hurled the ball into his waiting arms.

"I've had practice." I replied. He merely smirked and stared at me. His golden hair framed his face gently and his bangs were matted to his forehead with sweat. His bright blue eyes bore into my own amber-brown ones. He said no more and turned around, dribbling the ball a bit.

"Um, thanks...see ya later!" he waved and ran back to his buddies to play the game. I waved back a bit and sighed.

"Well...that was different." I said to myself and looked at my watch.

"It's only 2:45pm...dinner isn't until at least 5. So now what?" I asked myself as I continued my walk through the park. The park was huge! I didn't really need to worry about killing that much time. It took me just another half an hour to walk all the way to the other exit if I went at a normal walking speed. I wandered out of the park and back onto the sidewalk. My thoughts centered on the blonde boy. After all, you don't often see blondes in Japan, now do you? He looked about my age anyway...maybe I would see him again?

Not that it really mattered, I was just curious. I'm a people-person. I see people, I want to know more about people. It's just how I work. I looked at all of the different buildings on the side, stopping to take a few pictures of certain ones, including the large red tower I noticed earlier. In the end, I got so wrapped up in taking pictures that by the time I realized what I was doing, I had taken 80 pictures. My memory card was only set for 85.

"Thank technology for digital." I placed my camera into my pocket and headed in the opposite direction I had been previously traveling in. I reach my apartment and rode the lift to my floor, opening the door to my new home and closing it behind me.

"Good, you're home. Mom and Dad wouldn't let us eat until you showed up." Tai informed me and practically carried me to the table and flung me down into my seat. My mother came out of the kitchen with a pan of...you know, I'm not quite sure WHAT it was suppose to be...and spooned a good portion of IT onto each of our plates, setting the pan in the middle of the table. She sat down and we began to eat. Slowly due to the fact we weren't quite sure if we wanted to eat something my mother cooked.

"Now remember you two, you start school tomorrow." My father reminded us as he drank from his glass of water.

"Tomorrow!? Dad we just moved in today!" Tai exclaimed as he nearly choked on his meal.

"That doesn't mean anything, Taichi, and you know it." My mother chided and poked at her creation.

"But...how did you get us registered so fast?" He asked in an attempt to get out of going first thing tomorrow morning.

"We called yesterday." Was my father's reply.

"Goodie." Tai stuck his tongue out in disgust and rolled his eyes. "Oh well, that's not so bad." He shrugged and continued eating as though nothing had happened.

Have I ever mentioned that my brother is highly indecisive and doesn't think things through before they leave his mouth?

"Sounds great, Dad." Was all I said to bring the attention off of Tai. He shot me a grateful look and continued to poke at the under-cooked rice on his plate. I sighed and pushed my chair back away from the table.

"I'm full." I announced and walked into the kitchen, dropping my plate in the sink.

"Ditto." Tai followed my example and we both headed to our rooms.

Boy it feels good to say that. Rooms...as in plural...yay! I flopped down on my bed and turned on my stereo, plugging in my laptop in the meantime. I removed my camera and popped the memory card out and into the computer.

"Now, let's see what we've got here." I said to myself as I clicked the upload button. My pictures uploaded at a rapid pace and popped up on the screen. My cat pushed my door open a bit and sashayed into the room, hopping up onto the bed next to me.

I forgot to mention I had a cat, didn't I?

His name is Miko and he was in his kitty carrier on the floor of the taxi up by my father for most of the ride and once we let him out he went nuts and ran into the laundry room.

Weird cat, really. I scratched him behind his ears and started sorting through the different pictures.

"Building, building, building, park, park, store, TV station, tower, building..." I listed off as I saved each picture and closed it.

"More buildings, the park...what's this?" I stopped on one particular picture. I tilted my head sideways to get a better view because the picture was sideways.

"How did that happen?" I questioned myself as I used my editing program to flip the picture the right way.

Staring back at me from my screen was a picture of the blonde boy from earlier.

"Must have accidentally taken a shot when I threw his ball back." I commented and observed the picture closely.

"Not too bad...but I've seen better." I chuckled and studied his profile more.

"Nice facial features...kind of on the scrawny side...oh well." I shrugged and saved the picture.

"Hikari, go to bed! You need to be up at 6:30am for school." My mother suddenly intruded my thoughts. I jumped and glanced over to my clock.

"Wow...9pm. Time flies fast when you're busy." I mused and snapped the laptop closed, placing it on my desk on the way to the bathroom to change. Once changed and ready for bed, I stepped over and poked my head into Tai's room. He was lying on his bed with his headphones on, doodling on a sketchpad. Grinning suddenly, I raced over and pounced on his bed, sending the sketchpad skidding across the wooden floor.

"What!?" he yelped, yanking his headphones off of his ears. I gave him a wide grin and kissed his cheek.

"Good night!" I chirped and bounced back into my own bedroom, leaving behind a confused brother. I shut my door and climbed into my bed, reaching out to switch off the light.

"Hopefully tomorrow is a good day." Was the last thing I remember saying before I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"KARI, HURRY UP! We're going to be late if you don't get out here now!" Tai hollered through the bathroom door.

"Just give me a few minutes, Tai!" I yelled back.

"Are you stuffing your bra again?"

"Of course not!" I replied in an angry tone, removing the tissue paper from my pink shirt.

Well what did you expect for me to do? Tell him the truth?

With one last look in the mirror, I stepped out of the bathroom and looked for Tai. He was leaning against the couch with a piece of toast in his hand.

"If you actually leave now, I can walk you to school on my way to the high school." He informed me through a mouthful of toast. I nodded and headed back into my room, pulling on my shoes and grabbing my backpack from the foot of my bed. I headed back out of my room and grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl.

"Nice tie, Tai." I giggled at my brother's new uniform.

It was only funny because he never wears anything formal unless he's forced to. So seeing him standing there in a pair of slacks, nice white dress shirt, black tie, and a green blazer was just too much.

"Leave it to Mom and Dad to send me to a high school with a uniform." He rolled his eyes and swallowed the last bite of his breakfast.

"Are you ready?" he asked me, grabbing his own bag from off of the floor.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" I replied, heading for the front door.

"Mom and Dad already leave somewhere?" I asked him as we walked into the lift.

"Dad went to work and Mom wanted to get her shopping done early." He shrugged and shifted the bag on his shoulder. I nodded and we both stepped out of the lift and onto the sidewalk, heading back in the direction towards the park.

"So, you excited?" he questioned casually as he slipped his hands into his pocket.

"Yeah sure. Think of it as a new adventure!" I remarked, looking ahead of us for any sign of the school.

"Yeah...a new adventure of not having an adventure." He joked back. I smiled and spotted a brown building straight in front of us.

"Is that it?" I pointed to the building. Tai's eyes followed my finger and he nodded.

"Yep, so it is." He replied and stopped walking.

"You'll be fine walking home by yourself?" he inquired once more.

"Tai...it's only a ten-minute walk. I'll be fine." I pushed him forward gently.

"All right...I'll see you at home then. Have fun." He waved and continued walking towards his high school.

"Oh. I will." I said more to myself then to Tai. I stepped onto the school grounds and looked around. Kids my age were doing absolutely whatever they wanted, playing sports games, talking, riding their bikes, everything but heading into the building.

"Well...this should be interesting." I sighed and headed inside for the principal's office to pick up my schedule.

* * *

I had just left the office when the bell sounded off. Kids poured into the halls at lightning speed and headed for their classes.

"Luckily I already went to my locker." I blinked at the sudden pandemonium.

"Now where should I go..." I walked down the hall searching for the right door. But naturally, being me, every door I looked at wasn't the right door. The warning bell rang and the hallways cleared up immensely, still leaving me lost.

'Ask somebody for help, smart one.' The little nagging voice in my head said to me.

'No way. I can do this.' I thought back and looked at one more door. This was the only door that I hadn't tried so far, it had to be the right one! So I started turning the knob with all my might, desperate to open it.

"Are you lost?" a male voice said from behind me. I jumped in alarm and whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Two cinnamon-brown eyes peered into my own.

"How'd you guess?" I asked weakly.

"Well for one thing...you're trying to break into the janitor's closet." He replied with hidden laughter in his tone. I looked up a few inches above my head. Sure enough, there was a sign that said Janitor in big bold letters.

Way to make an impression, Kari. Real smooth.

"Um...oops?" Was all I said. The boy laughed again and flashed me a grin.

A rather charming grin I might add.

"You want some help?" he offered, leaning against the wall casually.

"If you did help me, wouldn't you be late?" I retorted.

"Nah, this is my free period." He waved his hand vaguely in the air.

"Hmm, suppose it couldn't hurt..." I replied and walked away from the janitor's closet, following the boy down the hall once more.

"So Pretty Kitty, where are you suppose to be at?" He asked me as he walked in front of me.

"Pretty Kitty?" I repeated. He turned his head to look at me and nodded towards my shirt. I looked down and gave him an embarrassed grin.

I forgot I was wearing that shirt. Light pink long-sleeved shoulder-less shirt with a purple cat on the front and purple glitter letters that read 'Pretty Kitty Nail Salon'.

Was I really that nervous to be here that I was totally missing the obvious?

"Uh, hello? Where are you going?" The boy repeated himself.

"Oh, right. Um...room 204." I read off of the paper the office had given me.

"No wonder you weren't having any luck. That's upstairs." He explained and pointed at the set of stairs at the end of the hall.

Guess that answers my question about missing the obvious, now doesn't it?

We walked up the stairs in silence and started walking down the hall once more.

"So are you new in town or did you just transfer or what?" he questioned me, running a hand through his spiky mahogany hair and knocking his goggles ajar in the process.

Goggles, huh? Must be a new guy fad...either that or my brother and this guy are too much alike.

Although, this guy is a bit more charming then Tai.

The boy I was walking with had an olive skin tone that made his eyes stand out even more. He had more of a build then the blonde from yesterday, but who notices these things right?

He was a tiny bit taller then myself and fairly thin for a guy.

Oh wait, there I go again, just leaving him hanging for answers.

"Just moved here yesterday." I replied, giving him a shy smile. His grin widened and he bowed before me.

"Well then, welcome to Odaiba." He winked and stood in front of a doorway.

"Well, this is your class. Algebra." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"How did you know?" I asked. His face struck with a look of panic and confusion.

"Uh...personal experience." He said quickly. He adjusted the book bag on his left shoulder and stuck out his right hand.

"I'm Daisuke by the way." He introduced himself.

"Hikari. Everybody calls me Kari though." I returned the handshake.

"Well Kari, pleasure meeting you. Hopefully, we'll meet up again later, huh?"

"Yeah, I hope so." I nodded and let go of his hand.

"I better get going. See ya later!" He gave me a two-finger salute and turned the other direction.

"Bye, Daisuke. And thanks." I called after him.

"No problem, Hika. And if you need anything else, just ask anybody where to find me. Everybody knows me." He said in a confident tone.

So he's popular too? Jeeze, looks, charm, popularity...he has everything, doesn't he?

And nobody's ever called me Hika before...

"I'll remember that." I chuckled and waved one last time, watching him disappear down the hall. I reached out and opened the door, stepping into the classroom. The other students were talking amongst themselves, writing notes, and throwing different things. A few bothered to look up to see who had entered the room, but most of the others didn't seem to really care.

Which, I might add, is a plus on my part.

I walked over to the teacher and handed him my transfer slip.

"Yagami Hikari, good to have you here. Why don't you take a seat in the desk that's closest to the window?" He suggested and pointed at two desks towards the back of the room. I nodded gratefully and headed to my seat, sitting down without anyone bothering me.

At least this was going better then a few of the first days I've had at other schools.

The teacher stood in front of the chalkboard and quieted the class down, beginning the lesson for the day. Class had been in session for about 20 minutes when there was a knock on the door. All heads, including mine, craned over to glance at the person on the other side. The teacher walked over and opened the door, revealing the principal and-

"Daisuke?" I breathed out softly.

"Skipping class again, Motomiya?" The teacher asked sternly.

"Sorry Mr. Arishima, I just feel that my brain cells are getting better use wandering the halls and thinking about why cheese smells then learning why X suddenly equals Z." Daisuke replied smoothly, earning a few laughs from other students.

"Detention, Motomiya!" Mr. Arishima barked, pointing at Daisuke's seat. The one next to mine.

"You're giving me detention for telling the truth? For stating an opinion? Why Mr. Arishima, I didn't know you cared!" Daisuke continued talking and grinned widely.

"Just go sit down, Daisuke." Mr. Arishima sighed and walked back to the front of the room to continue teaching. Daisuke slid into his seat and gave me his friendly grin again.

"Told you we'd meet up again later." He whispered as he took out a notebook.

"What are you doing? I thought you said this was your free period!" I hissed back.

"So I lied...big deal. Getting you to class was more important then me being late for mine." He shrugged.

"But if this is your class too, why didn't you just come in?"

"I don't know. Never did care for math. After all, A.D.I.D.A.S." He spelled.

"A.D.I.D.A.S?" I repeated.

"All day I dream about soccer." I couldn't help but giggle at his terminology.

"You're a soccer player?" I asked him.

"Damn straight. And I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself." He had that confident tone again.

"You know, I think you'd get along very well with my brother for some strange reason." I muttered and turned my attention back to the teacher who was looking at us.

"Who can answer the question on the board?" He asked the class. Nobody's hands shot up and we all blinked at each other. Slowly a hand went up.

"Very good, come up and write it out." Mr. Arishima called on someone. I turned my head and spotted a boy with a bucket hat on his head stand up and walk to the board. He had his back turned to us as he solved the problem and stepped away when he was finished.

"Very good, that's correct." Mr. Arishima nodded in approval. The boy nodded back and turned around, facing the class as he headed for his seat.

Wait a second...him!

The blonde boy from yesterday!

It's like I said, not too many blondes in Japan.

* * *

The rest of my classes went by rather slow. But at least I had Daisuke there to entertain me.

More like distract me.

But it's all the same. He's really a nice guy. Not many people would approach a new girl unless she was drop-dead gorgeous.

And believe me, I'm not.

The blonde boy was also in most of my other classes, so I spent a bit of time studying him and trying to figure out who he was.

Not that I would know since I don't know anybody besides Daisuke so far. But he said that he would introduce me to some of his other friends at lunch.

Speaking of lunch...it's right now!

I got out of my seat and followed Daisuke to his locker, listening to him chatter about how I would absolutely love his friends and that they wouldn't have any problems with me and a few other things I didn't quite understand since he was talking so fast. He came with me to my own locker before we went to lunch.

"Are you sure they won't mind, Daisuke?" I asked one more time, stuffing my backpack into my locker and grabbing my lunch out.

"For the last time, Kari, they're going to love you! Stop worrying!" He reassured me and slammed my locker shut.

"Who said I was done with that?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"I did. Let's go." He grabbed me by the arm and tugged me towards the lunch room. He stopped us in the middle of the room and looked around carefully before dragging me over to a corner and plopping the both of us down at a table.

"Hey guys!" he greeted two other kids.

One was a girl with mid-back lavender hair with a blue bandana covering the top of her head and a pair of glasses framing her eyes.

The other was a young boy with short brown hair and bright green eyes. He didn't look any more then 11 years old.

"Hey Daisuke." The two greeted him at the same time.

"Guys, this is Kari. She just moved here yesterday and just started school today. Kari, that's Miyako, grade eight, and Iori, grade six." Daisuke took care of all of the introductions. Miyako rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Kari." She smiled. I grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Likewise." I replied with my own smile.

"Welcome to Odaiba Junior High, Kari." Iori greeted me in a quiet voice.

"Thanks."

So Daisuke's friends weren't so bad. Seemed nice enough.

I opened my lunch bag, pulled out a sandwich and started to nibble on it. Miyako was eating a cheeseburger and Iori was picking at his salad. But Daisuke had nothing in front of him.

"Daisuke, aren't you going to eat?" I asked him, watching him closely.

"Eventually." He replied as he watched the cheeseburger in Miyako's hand.

Maybe he was an anorexic? That would explain why he was so thin.

"She doesn't know how it works, does she?" Miyako broke my train of thought.

"What?" I questioned.

"The Daisuke Food Market." Iori stated.

"The what?"

"In other words, Daisuke takes parts of our lunches most of the time in exchange for small favors." Miyako explained to me.

"I see." I looked at Daisuke who was eyeing my sandwich.

"Come on, Kari, give it a try." He nudged my elbow. I looked around the lunch room and spotted the blonde boy once more. He gathered up his lunch and headed outside into the courtyard.

"All right, Daisuke. But I want my favor now." I warned him, handing him half of the sandwich in my hand.

"Deal." He licked his lips and bit into the sandwich. "Not bad." He added as an afterthought.

"Ok, ready?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"What can you tell me about the blonde boy in our class?" I questioned him. Daisuke paused in mid-chew, staring off into space briefly. He swallowed lightly and looked at me.

"That would be Takaishi Takeru. Why do you ask?" He continued to eat.

"Just curious. Who is he?" I pressed on.

"Journalist, basketball star, model student, heartthrob, blah, blah, blah." Daisuke listed off.

"Are you jealous?" I asked with a hint of amusement.

"No. People just don't know the other parts of him." He explained, brushing crumbs off of his face.

"Like what?"

"Don't ask. He generally doesn't like people knowing."

"Then why do you know?" He once again paused and took a deep breath, running his tongue along his bottom lip.

"Takeru and I used to be best friends in elementary school. We're still friends now, I guess, just not as close. Point being, I know more about him then anyone. And let me just say this. Takashi Takeru is NOT Mr. Perfect by any means."

"What are the chances that I can get him to talk to me again?" I took a drink from my bottle of water.

"If he doesn't know you, zero to none. Wait, again?" He caught on to the last word of my sentence.

"He nearly crushed my face with a basketball yesterday in the park." I informed the darker boy.

"Ah. Well, then I have no clue. Just don't rush into anything ok? Takeru isn't someone to take on lightly." Daisuke warned me.

"Is he dangerous or something?" I asked in a wary tone.

"No, not dangerous. He just...it's hard to explain. Ask me later." He stood up and threw away his trash, just as the bell rang.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your next class since I have something totally different." He offered and led me out of the lunch room. I nodded and stopped at my locker to grab my things once more, my thoughts still resting on the blonde.

Indeed, I will have to ask Daisuke more about Takeru later.

And then of course, there's Daisuke himself. He's an awesome person...but what's he hiding from me?

Oh well. All questions will be answered in good time here in Odaiba, my new home.

* * *

FINALLY! This is like, 18 pages. Anyways, remember my review policy if you decide to review. I'd appreciate it if you did review but it's not necessary. Updates won't be very soon, but I'll try for about a month in between. Ciao!

And remember, this is not a vote for Takari or Daikari fic.

This is called Project Spontaneous. Meaning nothing is planned out until I sit down to type it up.

See ya later! Thanks for reading!


	2. Then I Realized, They Aren't Normal

Many of you are trying to make me write a Takari. Sorry, but I cannot oblige. I will write what I feel like writing when I get around to writing it. Please respect that.

On another note, as you read this fic, you may find a few things that point to a certain idea or a certain pairing. Do **not** assume anything. You cannot guess where I'm going with this. You never know. And you wouldn't want to feel stupid, would you? I didn't think so. So if something suddenly changes, you can only blame yourself.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, we can move on to the replies! Thanks again to anybody who reviewed, by the way.

xbabii-gurlx: Glad you liked it. Unfortunately, I don't get to update as often as I would like, but here's another one to keep you occupied!

crazyamzy: I'm glad somebody read my policies, and I'm glad you didn't find a lot of weak points. Wow, you're quite the enthusiast aren't you? I like that. Yeah, I can be a bit lengthy in descriptions, but I have to squeeze in those little extra details, right? I don't think he's that much younger, I'm not quite sure. As for Adidas, I just added that for no real reason. My own amusement truthfully. I like to think Daisuke is that charming. After all, if you were new and you had a guy just waltz up and start speaking to you, wouldn't you feel flattered? Overall, I'm glad you enjoyed it. This isn't soon, but I did write more and update! Thanks for reviewing!

Calmer of the Storm: Well, thank you very much! Hooked…I like that. I'm finding a lot of people would prefer a Takari, but I'm still not too sure (see paragraph above all replies). Spontaneous writing is fun for me. My other fics I pretty much have planned out, so this is just a little experiment. Long's not bad though, is it? I like long. Anyway, here's more of the 'good work' for your enjoyment.

Ivgie Sole: Glad you enjoyed it. Don't wait any longer, here's another chapter!

2 lazy 2 sign in: Thanks and don't worry about not logging in. I rarely do.

nEo: NEO! You reviewed this…but you haven't reviewed any of my updates lately. Where are you?! I updated Black Rose just for you! Okay actually it was for Sen-Tay but still! Back to this story. Yes! That was the effect I was going for! You know how much I love Dais, so I'm doing anything I can to have fun with his character. I continued. And yes, work woman! More Kukachi!

Artemis of the Ice: Thank you very much, I feel honored. I appreciate that, seeing how I have no idea where this is going.

miaow227: I understand if you stop reading it, I don't mind that much. Glad you can't think of any criticism. Here's an update!

Fearless Dreamer: Thanks! Here's an update!

Kelset: John, you think everything I write is good…AND BITE ME! Wait, no…you best be playing.

review lord: Thanks a million. Hilarious huh? I like that. I continued!

digiguy-01: Thanks a ton. I updated, hope you like it!

miracles-3: Thanks so much. Here's an update. Suggestions would be awesome if you had any, but I'll let you read a few more chapters before then.

Takari Fan: I'm sorry you feel that way. As stated, I prefer Takesuke over either Daikari or Takari so go figure. I made more, but I'll have to have some Daikari before I add any Takari.

Serpentia: Aw, thanks! I wrote more, hope you like it!

Okay that should be everybody. Again, thank you so much for taking time to review. And now, onto the story.

* * *

Daisuke and I wandered down the hallway in search of room 108. Actually, it was more like **I** was in search of room 108 and Daisuke was just taking me there. He hadn't said much since we left the cafeteria, rather keeping quiet with his hands in his pockets and his eyes straight forward. 

Now, I realize I haven't known Daisuke for very long. But when you're dealing with a boy who hasn't shut up for more then three minutes at a time since you met him, and he's suddenly not even talking, you can just **tell** there's something wrong. I was just about to open my mouth and ask him when he stopped in front of a door and put on a cheerful grin.

"And here we are; annual. Why are you taking annual?" He asked lightly, staring at the classroom door warily.

"Mostly because I like taking pictures. I was the photographer at my last school so I decided, hey, why not try here?" I replied and shifted my bag to the opposite shoulder.

"Well then, I'm sure you'll make this year's annual look absolutely superb." He grinned.

"Wow, two points for using a big word today, Motomiya." Another male voice spoke up from behind us. Daisuke and I turned our heads and looked at the newcomer, my eyes changing to surprise and Daisuke's into a sort of anger. When I say sort, I just mean that it wasn't pure anger, but he wasn't very thrilled either.

"Shove it, Takaishi." Daisuke's eyes narrowed slightly. Takaishi murmured something under his breath and shook his head.

"Whatever, do you mind moving? You're kind of blocking the door." The blonde waved a hand vaguely at the classroom door. I immediately moved out of the way and let him walk past me into the room. In return, he regarded me with a smile and a nod before he shut the door. As soon as it had fully slid shut, Daisuke buried his fists in his hair and growled.

"Gah, he **always** has to make me feel stupid." He let go of his hair and shoved the fists back into his pocket, adopting a small pout in place of the glare he previously had.

"Aw, Dais, you're not that stupid!" I replied, waiting to see if he caught on to what I had just said.

"Yeah, you're right." He sighed. I raised an eyebrow and smirked. Suddenly it dawned on him.

"Wait a sec, I'm not stupid at all!" He shouted, giving me a mock-anger glare.

"No, of course not." I whistled innocently and giggled. The bell rang then, signally the end of lunch and telling everybody to get to their next class.

"Where are you headed to?" I asked my companion, leaning against the wall behind me.

"Phys Ed." A wide, goody grin spread across the tanned face rapidly.

"Figures. You're going to be late if you don't go right now." I nudged him forward.

"Ah, I'm always late, doesn't really bother the coach much."

"Why not?"

"Hello! Striker of the soccer team? They'd be screwed without me." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Well then Mr. Confidence, go find somebody else to bother. I want to get started." I replied and opened the classroom door once more.

"All right, see ya later, Kari!" He waved at me one last time and jogged down the hallway towards the Boys locker room. I waved back briefly and stepped into the classroom, sliding the door shut behind me. The final bell sounded off and I dropped my stuff onto a table, walking up to the teacher with my transcripts and such.

"Well now, says you want to be one of the photographers." The older woman caught my eyes.

"That's right." I smiled. She smiled back and handed me the transcripts.

"I don't see how that should be a problem. We could use one permanent photographer instead of everybody taking turns. Go for it." She nodded towards a table. Sitting there was a black digital camera and three memory cards.

"Thanks! What's my first assignment?" I asked eagerly, striding over to lift up the camera.

"I think you should discuss that with the Layout editor." She pointed over to the far end of the classroom. My eyes followed her finger and landed on a white bucket hat.

Now really, who else did you expect?

I stepped up behind the blonde and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. He was busying himself with cropping a picture of the Mathletes.

"Hi." I spoke up after a small silence. He jumped slightly and turned around, looking at me in a strange manner. Guess I caught him off-guard.

"Hey. What can I do for you?" He said back, turning his head to focus on the monitor again.

"Well, I just wanted to know what my first assignment was so I can get out there and start taking pictures." He paused in his movement and turned the chair completely around to face me.

"You're our new photographer?" His arms folded across his chest and a slightly skeptical look crossed his face.

"Yup. Is that a problem?" I replied, giving him my own skeptical look. An easy-going grin slowly flooded his face and he shook his head.

"No, not at all." His voice changed to a happy tone and he pulled out a chair next to him.

"Have a seat." He offered. I walked closer and sat down, looking at his work on the picture.

"What are you working on exactly?" I asked curiously and leaned closer.

"Just trying to un-blur this picture, but it doesn't seem to want to co-operate." He clicked a few more buttons and waited. The picture became even more blurry and he slammed his palms down on the desk.

"Damn it!" He shouted and pushed himself away from the computer. I chuckled slightly and took his place to try and figure out what he was doing wrong.

"Ah, here we go. See, you've got the sizing way too big. That's why it keeps blurring on you." I explained to him and resized the picture. I sharpened the picture a tiny bit and sat back to reveal my work. He blinked in amazement and choked on a laugh.

"Wow, I feel really stupid now." He rubbed the back of his neck and scooted back in front of the monitor. He saved the picture and selected 'print', sitting back while the request was being carried out.

"No you're not stupid. You just need to be more observant of your work." I said and got up to grab the picture. I looked down at it and smiled. I like admiring my work, even if I **didn't** take the picture. I handed the paper to Takaishi and sat in my seat again.

"Thanks." He nodded once and studied the picture.

"Anytime." I shrugged and toyed with the camera, exploring all of the different buttons and gadgets for it. He nodded his head in approval once more and extended his hand.

"Nice to have you here, Yagami."

And you know my name how?

"I overheard Arishima this morning."

Did I say that aloud?

"Obviously."

I hate it when I do that! Like, you say something in your mind, yet you subconsciously say it out loud. Makes me worry about what **else** I've said aloud accidentally. Maybe I'm looking into this too much, I've only known the guy for what? A day and a half?

"Well then, perhaps if you overheard Arishima, you would prefer to call me by my first name?" I replied smoothly, trying to ignore the fact that I had possibly made myself look foolish.

"Oh, well, yeah. That is, if I knew your first name." He grinned sheepishly. I shook my head and laughed, finally shaking his hand.

"Hikari. Kari. Whichever." I introduced myself, idly tossing around the idea of how this boy could be so bad. He seemed perfectly normal to me.

"Well then Kari, I'm Ta-"

"Takaishi, I already know. Prefer me to call you Takeru?" I cut him off.

"Actually, call me TK. Takeru sounds too formal for my liking." He waved a hand casually, turning back to his monitor.

"Makes enough sense."

"Of course. Do I **look **like a professional? I think not." He grinned again and began cropping another picture.

"Dork." Was the first thing that came to mind and slipped out before I could stop it. I instantly regretted it. I mean, you don't call a person you barely met a dork. It's just downright rude. Although, apparently he didn't think it was rude, for he began to laugh again.

"You're quite a character, Yagami. Seriously." He spoke between laughs and shook his head to calm down. I blinked in surprise and tilted my head in question.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked carefully, not sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult.

"Nothing. Think nothing of it." He replied airily.

"Fine."

"Why are you here?" He suddenly switched gears.

"What?"

"Why are you here?" he repeated.

"Because I signed up for this class?"

"No, no, no. Why are you here at Odaiba Junior High? I've never seen you before." He clarified his question.

"Parents are weird, moved us everywhere across the country, finally decided to move us here, to make a long story short." I explained, popping the memory card out of the black camera.

"Why did they move you everywhere?"

"As previously stated, they're weird. They just enjoy exploring new places. But now that Tai and I are getting older, they want us to actually grow up with one group of friends for the rest of our schooling. Or something to that affect." I said in a confused manner, trying to figure out what I had just said. I guess he understood it though because he nodded in understanding. Wow, I just thought through that sentence. It sounded stupid, didn't it? Yes, I thought so too.

"Well, can I give you some advice about going to OJH?" He offered with his eyes glued to the monitor.

"Sure, knock yourself out." I slid my own chair up to the computer next to his, draping the camera around my neck and popping a clear memory card into the slot.

"Don't stick around Motomiya."

Oh, so **this** is why Daisuke doesn't like him.

"Why not?" I asked innocently, waiting to see what his reasoning was to hate the goggle-boy.

"Because he's a freak?" He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Doesn't seem like a **freak**, maybe a little weird, but not a freak." I defended Daisuke briefly.

"He's a freak. Trust me."

"Why?" TK stopped typing his caption and turned to look at me.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. He's extremely, well, psychotic. That's the only way to really describe it." He shrugged it off.

"At least define psychotic." I persisted him. He opened his mouth to respond, just as we heard a lot of hollering and cheering. Both of our faces held identical looks of confusion and we got up. I followed him to the classroom door and he slid it open, poking his head out into the hallway. I stood right behind him, peering out over his shoulder.

"Oh lord." TK muttered to himself and shook his head in disgust. I was about to head back to my seat, since there really wasn't much going on when suddenly Daisuke slid by the door, clad in nothing but his boxers and white cotton socks. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped, covering my mouth to suppress my giggles.

"Idiot." TK proclaimed and headed back into the classroom, giving me plenty of room.

"This should be fun." I whispered to myself, raising the camera up to my face. Just my luck, Daisuke ran by again. With my quick reflexes, I focused the camera and pressed the button, taking the shot clearly before he could leave my sight. I giggled again and slid the door shut as more people began to look out in the halls, sashaying back over to my computer and chair. I plopped down next to TK and ejected the memory card, shoving it into the drive plugged into the CPU.

"This is why I call him a freak. He does stupid stuff like **that**." TK returned to our previous conversation.

"Why? Just for laughs?" I asked back, opening the editing program and uploading the picture.

"Pretty much. The only people who really get true laughs out of it are his jock buddies." Was the retort given. I nodded to show I was still listening and opened the file, laughing quietly when I noticed that Daisuke was wearing blue boxers with rubber duckies on them, captured in a surfing stance.

"I don't know about that, TK. Sounds like there's more people then that laughing, judging by the noise in the hall." I commented.

"There's a difference between being laughed **with** and being laughed **at**." The blonde informed as he watched me carefully.

"You think everybody else is laughing at him?"

"Obviously. Motomiya isn't somebody everybody wants to be friends with. He's just an oddball who does random shit to get attention." He scoffed.

"Daisuke told me that if I ever needed to find him, I could always ask anybody where he is and they'd know. Doesn't that say something?" I remembered that tip.

"Yes. It says that it doesn't take a genius to know that he's either on the field or in the principal's office. That's just a given."

"Does he get in trouble often?"

"Are you kidding? Motomiya spends more time in the office and in ISD then he does in his actual classes. That boy has problems. Seriously. Don't stick around him if you want **some** form of a reputation."

I had to admit, TK was laying it on Daisuke pretty hard. Then again, Daisuke wasn't all sunshine and butterflies about TK either. I wonder what could possibly be so bad to make them hate each other. Maybe there's something deeper to it then just blind hate. Maybe, they had a past together and like, something went horribly wrong in their friendship like a huge fist-fight or an act of betrayal or…a murder!

…

Or maybe I'm looking into it too much. Yeah…that's it. 'It's just simple rivalry, get a grip Hikari.' I shook my head to erase bizarre thoughts. I blame my brother for my over-active imagination. Trust me, if you lived with him too, you would only be partially sane. That boy does not even **begin** to live in reality.

"What are you doing?" TK's voice announced itself into my cloud of oddity.

"Cropping, lighting, blurring, and printing." I replied with each task as I performed them. I scooted myself over to the printer and pulled out the picture of Daisuke.

"Oh you're kidding! Kari!" TK whined slightly. I grinned at his child-like response and slipped the picture into my binder.

"I happen to think it's funny, so I'm going to keep it…and possibly use it as blackmail." I added as an after-thought. TK shook his head again and shut down his computer.

"Whatever floats the boat, I suppose."

"Your." I corrected him.

"My what?"

"No, I mean it's your, not the. Whatever floats **your** boat." I explained as I began to pack up.

"Let's just say, my boat sank." He smirked and the bell sounded off. We grabbed our backpacks and headed out into the swarm of people, moving from one class to the other.

"What's you next class?" TK asked me, re-adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

"Art, room 127." I responded after a quick look at my schedule. A grin crossed the blonde's face once more.

"Right on, so am I!" He exclaimed and began walking ahead of me, waiting for me to follow, I suppose. Which I did, by the way. It's not like I'm going to try and figure it out myself and get lost.

"What type of art?" I questioned, feeling the dull thud of my bag as it bounced every time I walked.

"All types really. We just finished up a section studying about famous painters and techniques of art and we moved into drawing last Friday. You'll like the teacher too, she's real lenient and she loves her job just a tiny too much." He gave me the long-winded description.

"What makes you say that?" Was the first thing I could come up with while my head still spun around.

"See for yourself." He stopped and opened the door, allowing me to step in first. As I walked into the room, I'm sure my eyes widened and I know my mouth opened a bit. Every spare inch of the room was covered in art. There were tables set up in little groups in the middle of the room along with the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Those seemed to be the only signs of organization.

The walls were splattered with paint of all colors, bright colors like yellow, orange, and green, giving the room a cheery disposition. Hanging from those same walls were various pieces of paper, canvas, and black shelves, all displaying students' work. Charcoal drawings, pen sketches, oil paintings, pointillism portraits, pottery, sculptures: you name it, it was most likely up there somewhere.

There was a row of sinks along the back wall and under those sinks were cabinets, each labeled correctly. Most likely they stored the art supplies needed. My gaze drifted downward until I was looking at the floor. Suddenly my eyebrows shot up once I realized we were standing on a mural. The floor was painted into what seemed to be four sections: day, night, heaven, and hell. There were no lines separating them and there was almost no telling where one began and one ended. They blended together so well, which would explain the words that had been painted inside the boxes of each section. Heaven held the word 'unity', hell had 'differences', night had 'harmony', and the daylight had 'individual'.

Well, I was impressed.

"Are you going to stand at the door all day, Kari?" TK appeared by my side. I turned my head to look at my blue-eyed companion and shook my head.

"She did all this?" I breathed out, still trying to take in as much of the room as I could.

"Most of it. She hung the artwork, the shelves, and she painted the mural on the floor. She even had it coated with this type of stuff that prevents it from ever being ruined."

"What about the walls?"

"Every year, that's what I let my students do for their final. They participate in the splatter, they get full credit." A different voice spoke into my ear, causing me to jump slightly. I whirled around and spotted a woman not much taller then me with her hands on her hips and her hazel eyes focused on me.

"Well, I don't recognize you." She spoke, examining me thoroughly.

"Oh, right. I'm new here, and they told me to come to your class." I replied and handed over my transcripts and schedule and…oh you get the idea! She scanned over the paper quickly, with her head tilted downward and dirty blonde hair falling into her face. She handed me all of the papers and shook my hand.

"Pleasure, Yagami. You can call me Ms. Takara." She spoke and dropped my hand, dropping her blue purse on her desk.

"Takara. Got it." I repeated to myself.

"Have a seat and stay a while." Ms. Takara smiled and sat at her own desk, waiting for the final bell to go off. I turned to ask TK where we should sit when a call cut me off.

"Kari, over here!" I looked behind me and spotted Daisuke sitting at the table, waving at me to get my attention. He was also fully clothed, I might add. I flashed him a smile and began making my way over to him when TK touched my arm lightly.

"Kari?" He just said that one word, but I knew there were meant to be more. I shrugged my shoulders and continued walking towards Daisuke.

"I'm fully aware of what you told me, and it doesn't bother me. But you can come join us if you'd like." I replied and turned away once more, walking towards Daisuke. I slid into the chair next to him, although it wasn't really next to him. The table was set up with three chairs, one chair on each side of the table. So I sat next to him on the other side to his right…does that make sense? Maybe not, because the table was a triangle shape so each chair was on a flat side with a point between you and the next person and…never mind, I'm lost.

"How'd annual go?" He asked me as I scooted my chair in.

"It was really interesting, to say the least. And I made a new friend so it's all good."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, he's right…there." I stopped speaking as TK sat in the chair next to my right and on Daisuke's left.

"Hello Motomiya." He greeted Daisuke coolly, attempting to re-enforce the agreement of rivalry.

"Takaishi." Daisuke nodded with the same tone. Their gaze on one another lasted a good 2 minutes before the refused to look at each other again.

Apparently, they were going to be stubborn about it. I pounded my fist on the table and was satisfied I got their attention. Both boys looked at me with question marks in their eyes.

"Now listen up you two. I refuse to sit here while you two act like the other doesn't exist! You are going to attempt to get along and speak like friends, because apparently, you **are** friends!" I added extra emphasis on the last bit and threw a small glare at Daisuke. After all, hadn't it been he who told me that they were friends still?

Yeah…last time I checked, friends don't sharpen pencils to stab friends with.

"Kari, didn't we already have this discussion?" TK gave me his own look. Daisuke was making a face that was a cross between a glare and a pout, so it was kind of scrunched up.

"Yes, we had this discussion, but I don't care. You shall get along or I will be very unhappy and go sit over there, leaving you two by yourselves." I replied, pointing at one lone chair in the back corner of the room. Both boys followed my finger and then returned to my face with wide eyes.

"Um Kari?" TK started off.

"That's the isolation chair." Daisuke finished.

"What on Earth is an isolation chair?"

"It's a chair that anybody who's causing trouble is sent to sit in for the rest of the class period."

"Which explains why Daisuke is usually the one occupying it."

"Hey, cheap shot!"

"You set yourself up for it."

"Maybe, but still! I'm stupid like that!"

"You're telling me." Despite the fact that they were quite serious, I couldn't help but giggle. The two boys glanced at me, and then back at each other before smirking again and shaking hands.

"Here's the deal. We'll **try** and be nice."

"And if the stupid prick doesn't want to co-operate-"

"Then goggle-head and I can duke it out in our own time!"

"Sound fair?" They asked simultaneously. A relieved grin crossed my face and I nodded.

"Extremely." I replied and faced the front where Ms. Takara was explaining a project.

"All right, listen up. We started in our drawing section last Friday, learning the basics of the body. The next thing I would like for you to do is learn how to draw the face." She said to us and stood in front of her desk, leaning against it with her arms folded across her stomach.

"As you can see, your supplies are in front of you." Daisuke reached into the box and picked up one of the pieces of black.

"Ms. T, what's with the black chalk?" He puzzled, rubbing the black stick between his fingers.

"That's charcoal, Motomiya." Ms. Takara rolled her eyes in a joking manner.

"Yeah, Motomiya. Jeeze, I wonder about you…" TK added his own comments.

"Shut up, Takeru!"

"Why don't **you** shut up, Daisuke!

"Both of you shut up!" Ms. Takara shouted in their faces. Brown and blue eyes blinked once and two mouths closed. Ms. Takara grinned smugly and continued speaking.

"Charcoal is your tool today to draw the faces. Now, the person sitting with their back to me will have to partner up with somebody else at a separate table while the remaining two shall draw each other." Ms. Takara explained. Daisuke, TK, and I glanced at each other quickly. Then we came to the conclusion,

"Aw shit!" Daisuke swore while TK dropped his head on the table with a resounding bang. I was the one with my back towards Takara.

"You guys really don't like each other that much, do you?" I asked the obvious. TK lifted his head and sent me a tiny glare.

"No! What **ever** gave you that idea?" He spoke with his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Look, just do the assignment and try not to kill each other, kay?" I shook my head and turned around to find a partner.

"Hey, new girl!" I looked to my left and spotted a girl about a year older then myself who's hazel eyes were staring back at me.

"Need a partner?" She asked me as she snapped her bubble gum. Nodding in return, I grabbed my sheet of paper, a piece of charcoal and pushed my chair away from the table.

"Just **try **and get along for the most part. That's all I ask." I repeated once more to the boys and walked away, flopping down in a different chair.

"Troubles with the nim-rods?" My partner asked me, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.

"They pretty much hate each other." I replied as I set the paper before me. She nodded in understanding and blew another bubble.

"Only since recently though, like, last year they were good buddies." She explained to me and popped the bubble that grew too large.

"What happened?" My attention was focused. She shrugged in response and began to work, seeing how I had stopped moving.

"Nobody's quite sure. Everybody guesses that something bad happened over the summer because right before school was let out for break, they were attached at the hip. And every time somebody asks one of them about it, they get all tight-lipped and avoid the question." She sketched a few lines on her paper, creating my face shape.

"And nobody has any clue."

"Nope. But you've created a miracle." She outlined my nose and shaded it slightly.

"How so?"

"Getting them to sit at the same table."

"…They really went out of their way to avoid each other, didn't they?"

"Precisely." My eyes were drawn next. I had to prevent my mouth from dropping at the image on the page.

"You're a wonderful artist." I commented. A confident smile crossed her features.

"Thanks. I've had practice, took this class last year." She finished my lips and drew my shoulders in. She even went as far as to draw the holes in the shoulders of my shirt.

"Fast too."

"Yep. I like getting things done quickly while I have my attention focused on it." She finished with a flourish and paused.

"What's your name?" She asked, charcoal still hovering over the page.

"Hikari. Kari. Whichever." I replied.

"Light. I like that." She grinned again as she wrote my name at the bottom of the paper.

"Thank you. What can I call you?" I asked.

"Call me Akemi." She brushed off her black-covered hands onto her black baggy pants.

"See, my name doesn't really mean anything, so yeah. That's okay though!" She leaned back in her chair and looked at me. I picked up my own charcoal and set to work, beginning with her head shape. I knew my work could never be as nice as Akemi's but still, I was new to this.

"So, how long were those two friends for?" I picked up on the previous conversation.

"From about 2nd grade to last summer. That was when Takaishi moved here, into the same building as Motomiya." She replied and licked her lips. I drew her hair to just above her shoulders and my charcoal slipped from my fingers, creating a big streak going off into space. I groaned and tried to fix it, but nothing seemed to help.

"Just leave it. Takara's nuts if she thinks people are going to turn in papers without mistakes." Akemi reassured me and I kept drawing.

"They're both stubborn, so don't expect them to be good friends right away again, if that's your ploy." She continued speaking while I worked on her eyes. I bit my lip when I realized that her eyes were two different sizes.

"I hate charcoal!" I exclaimed. Akemi giggled and shook her head.

"Don't we all?" She lifted up her dirty hands. I looked down at my own and sighed.

"Oh well. And that wasn't my **exact **ploy, but similar. They can't be friends with me if they can't be friends with each other."

"Ooh, smooth. They obviously both want to be your friend because they're sitting together."

"I don't get why they would want to be my friend though." I drew her lips smudged together. Why can't I do this right for crying out loud?!

"Well, you're new, you're friendly, you're pretty. Why else?"

"I'm not that pretty. Besides, we have a lot of classes together, all three of us. Maybe they just felt like being nice."

"Who knows why. Just remember, you have their attention, run with it!" Akemi nodded and examined my final product.

"See, that's not too terrible for your first try. I remember my first try was a nightmare. Couldn't tell the ears from the nose." She grinned and tilted her head to look at it closer.

"You think it looks ok?" I questioned, looking at my work compared to hers.

"Of course. I really like it. And you tried your best at least." We were interrupted by a suddenly loud crash.

"My eyes are not that squinted!"

"Well, my goggles don't take up three-fourths of my head either!" Akemi and I turned around and spotted TK and Daisuke on the floor. Now, you would expect me to say they were throwing fists.

But would it surprise you if I said they were marking each other with charcoal?

…I didn't think so. I jumped out of my seat and briskly stepped over to the two on the floor.

"What on Earth are you two doing?!" I burst, throwing my hands into the air in exasperation.

"Stupid eyes!"

"Damned goggles!" I rolled my eyes upward and took a deep breath before and lowered my face down by them.

"Hey!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Daisuke stopped throwing charcoal streaks and looked at me. Wish I could say the same for TK. He lifted his charcoal up to swipe Daisuke and before he could realize that it was **my** face in his path instead of Dai's, he drew a large, thick line right across my cheek. I blinked once and then blinked again.

"Way to go, TK! You marked your wrong target." Daisuke laughed at TK's slip-up. TK's eyes flashed momentarily before a small smirk settled upon his lips.

"Well, fire two then!" He resounded and streaked Daisuke's light blue t-shirt with the charcoal.

"Oh, hell no!" Daisuke reached up and marked TK's white hat. TK froze and lifted the white hat off of his head.

"My poor hat…" He whimpered slightly.

"Serves you right, Goggle-Hater." Daisuke sniffed indignantly.

"Stupid goggles!" TK lunged at Daisuke again, quickly getting over the mourning of his hat. I stepped in between the two of them, just in time for Daisuke to mark the back of my pink shirt.

I did not sign up to be a referee!

"You're going down, Daisuke!" I exclaimed and marked his neck. Daisuke's face split into a grin however.

"Now you're in the spirit of things!" He replied cheerfully and drew a straight line from TK's shoulder to the tip of his middle finger.

"This is why you get sent to the isolation chair!" TK marked both of us in one swift movement.

"So what? At least I'm not a fun-sucking prick!" Daisuke replied with a new mark of his own.

"You're both being ridiculous!" I shouted over their shouting, marking both of their noses.

"Isolation Butt-Warmer!" TK swiped at my forehead and Daisuke's thigh.

"Fun-sucker!" Daisuke swiped at my knee and TK's left ear.

"Childish morons!" I swiped their shoes.

"What the hell are you three doing?!"

It was then I knew we were screwed.

* * *

Well, an hour-long detention and a thorough floor scrubbing later, I finally was on my way home. I stepped out of the elevator and produced a house key from my pocket, shoving it in the lock and rattling the door handle. The door clicked open and I walked inside, kicking off my shoes and walking further inside. 

"Kari? That you?" Tai's voice rang out from the kitchen. Figures.

"It's me. Sorry I'm late." I replied as I followed the voice. I found him with his face in the refrigerator and his blazer slipping off his shoulder.

"What's your story?" He asked as he moved aside a few different jars.

"Got detention?" I said meekly.

"On your first day!?" Tai exclaimed and removed his head from the fridge. Or rather, tried. He ended up smacking his head on one of the shelves in his haste.

"Yes, on my first day." He reached behind his head and rubbed the now tender area as his gaze met mine. He didn't say much at first, taking time to take in my charcoal-stained clothes and my smudged face.

"Charcoal fight, don't ask. Ms. Takara wasn't too pleased and made us stay and clean the floor." I explained, waiting for his reaction. He still didn't say anything, just continued watching me. And as he watched me, I grew more nervous about what he would say. Finally, a wide grin crossed his face.

"Finally! I was starting to think you were going to grow to be a major two-shoes!" He laughed and did a little victory dance, causing me to giggle as well.

My brother is such a dork sometimes, but that's why I love him.

"Y'know, I'd hug you, but I don't really want to get dirty." He continued and ended up grabbing a bag of chips from the pantry instead of trying the fridge again.

"I don't blame you, actually." I nodded in agreement. He walked past me into the living room and flopped on the couch.

"How was your first day?" I asked him for the sake of asking.

"Fabulous." He spoke in a somewhat dreamy tone which made me stop in my tracks.

You see, Tai doesn't do dreamy. Ever.

"Met a girl?" I assumed. He blinked and shook his head.

"What?"

"Never mind." I shook my head. He was spacing out on me, and normally, you can't talk to him when he's like that. He brushed me off and popped a chip into his mouth.

"How was your day?" He asked in return.

"It was…good." I trailed off, for lack of a better description. I thought back to everything that had happened that day. Trying to break into the janitor's closet, meeting with the clown of the future, the Daisuke food market, annual, learning of a rivalry in my own little world, surfing boxers, the isolation chair, charcoal fights, and the sprays of icy soapy water.

Oh yeah, **definitely** a good day.

* * *

All right, this took me like 4 months to write, but I got it done! Yay me right? Anyway, hope it made sense. 

Trust the Fox.


End file.
